Whoa Nelly! It’s been two years!!

Posted on September 25, 2014 by amsterdogblog

I was looking over my much-neglected blog tonight and realized that two years ago Harriet and I left the US for the Netherlands.

WOW have our lives ever changed…we, as in Harriet and I are now living in France (still have the flat in Amsterdam tho) and we are now married to M (well I am married to M and Harriet the Golden Retriever is very happy about that!).

I guess it is time to start blogging about France and our world-wide adventures instead of just Amsterdam. Harriet is no longer just an Amsterdam dog but is now officially a French resident (like me). We live in Provence, in the South of France near Cannes. It has been a bit of an adjustment switching from Dutch culture to French. Just the switch in driving cultures has been a challenge. The French drive like crap but that is its own story. I am learning French as a means of survival. Learning Dutch has been a necessity in order to understand what is going on when in the company of my new family and friends as they forget to speak English (they actually “think” they are speaking English sometimes when they are not and wonder why I look confused). Most Dutch speak English and so learning Dutch has been slow as most Dutch speak English….French on the other hand is becoming a crash course out of necessity. Man, I really wish I had paid more attention in High School French I and II now haha. Most French people do not understand English! In some ways they are as bad as Americans in not knowing a second language.

Anyway, I will be taking French courses very soon and am actually looking forward to it.

Laters…

What A Wild Year This Has Been!

Posted on October 14, 2013 by amsterdogblog

OK, I know, I have been a very very bad blogger and have not posted for a very long time. It’s been one heck of a year and a very busy summer with lot’s of visitors, travel, a few adventures, boat rides on the canals (Harriet is in every home movie of every Japanese tourist due to her yellow life jacket) and Amsterdam events. I will try to find time to recap the Amsterdogblog adventure – complete with photos in a series of posts.

Our visitors include my friends Mort, Jeri and Kendall, Shiasta and Munaf, Theresa and Leigh, a loud and rowdy group from South Africa; family including my Mother, my Sister and 2 Nieces plus M’s family and numerous friends from the EU. We now have a college student living with us that we are sponsoring at the University of Utrecht. We’ve travelled to Africa, Seattle Vancouver, San Francisco, Anchorage, Los Angeles, India, New York, Norway, Belgium, Germany, France and the UK (if I remember correctly).

We’ve recently had a death in the family that we had to deal with here in Amsterdam that made both M and I realize how short life can be. But…we’ve had some super happy events such as M’s parent’s 50th wedding anniversary party, M’s niece Charlotte’s graduation from college, the birth of my sister’s grandson and, our engagement!

Now that it is Fall and the weather has turned, biking and walking around Amsterdam just isn’t as much fun. If this winter is anything like last winter, I will have plenty of time to catch everyone up on how things are going in Amsterdam and the other places we travel.

Oh, and don’t let me forget something really special…afterall

Harriet the Field Hockey Mascot in her uniform

, this is supposed to be about the adventures of a dog in Amsterdam…Harriet became the Aunt to 11 puppies as her sister Carly became a Mommy this summer….gorgeous puppies!

I promise to be a better blogger….really.

South Africa Part 1 – Cape Town

Posted on November 30, 2012 by amsterdogblog

I posted some photos on Facebook but thought I’d better publish them here for my non-Facebook friends. M and I went to Cape Town which is located at the very southern tip of Africa. It was founded in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company so that the ships would have a place to restock on their way to and from Holland and India. Wine grapes were brought in and after several failed attempts at growing grapes, a winery was finally added. Fast forward almost 400 years and now Cape Town is a very beautiful city located near several successful wine regions that make really awesome wine!

Baby baboon

Cape Town penguin colony

This was yucky

Pay phones are still alive and well in South Africa

View from Table Mountain

Table Mountain cable car

Groot Constantia Rose!

View from Table Mountain

Cape Town in the background

Cape Town along the ocean

Green Market Square

Township

Pretty fancy for hiking at Cape of Good Hope, huh?

The Cape of Good Hope where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean

The Cape

Don’t open the car door!!

A Trip To Vondelpark

Posted on November 30, 2012 by amsterdogblog

Vondelpark

I’ve been researching the various parks here in Amsterdam looking for a park that is close by and is dog friendly. So far I have found that nearly all of Amsterdam is dog friendly as Harriet goes into stores and restaurants all the time (she is not allowed in the grocery store though). The closest park of any size is Vondelpark. It takes Harry and I about 30 minutes to walk to the park, another 15 to get through the park to the area where all the dogs are playing and then another 45 minutes to walk home after playing. Needless to say, there is a lot of walking involved! We will need to start using the bike to go to the park soon I think.

Happy park dog

There are several open areas where the dogs are allowed to play. The park is actually 100% off leash but so far Harriet has been kept on her leash as there are too many tempting children and she thinks that she needs to greet each and every one of them with a big wet kiss on the face. Needless to say, not every Amsterdam child is happy about this!

The park has a lot of really nice features….water for the dogs to swim in, lot’s of pretty bridges, fountains, sculpture (no one jumping off a building thank goodness), restaurants, playgrounds, lot’s of trees and most interesting – Ring Neck Parakeets!

Vondelpark Parrots

The parakeets are escapees that found other escapees and have manage to adapt to the weather of Amsterdam. You see them in the city from time to time but there seems to be a rather large flock at Vondelpark. So now Harriet and I look for them as they are fun to watch and are a gorgeous green color.

Don’t Jump!

Posted on November 30, 2012 by amsterdogblog

The other day M and I were in the car going somewhere in Amsterdam when we went past this building that had a this elaborate “sculpture” attached at the top. My first thought was that this was very odd construction scaffolding and then I thought “gee, it looks like a person who is ready to jump”, and finally I thought, “no way would anyone create such a thing as it is kinda creepy”. I asked M about it and she said that yes, it really was a person who was about to jump.

That’s when she told me that the building houses a Psychiatric Center.

Happy Thanksgiving From South Africa!

Posted on November 22, 2012 by amsterdogblog

Today M and I are in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is working and I am catching up on emails and this blog and will probably go walk around the neighborhood near the hotel while waiting for M to come back. No Thanksgiving dinner for us this year but maybe a nice steak dinner with a nice SA wine.

This trip has so far been pretty amazing. Of course M has seen all the things that have made me excited…she says that it is her goal to make me “more worldly” whatever that means. In any case, I’ve seen a lot of Cape Town, been up Table Mountain by cable car, seen incredible poverty in the Townships, been to the Cape of Good Hope and seen “the end of the world”, seen penguins, baboons, beautiful birds, daissies, and ostrich (all in the wild on the same day no less), ate some fabulous meals and visited the Franschhoek wine region where we tasted some amazing wine! The photos I’ve taken of the Cape of Good Hope (and will post later on) cannot replicate what it looks like in real life. It is truly an amazing and awe inspiring sight to see!! On Saturday we are heading to a game park where hopefully we will see elephants, zebras and other wild African animals. I brought my nice camera so hopefully I can take some nice photos to share.

I’ve got a lot to be thankful for today….a loving family, a beautiful loving partner, a goofy dog and cat that I miss too much, friends who are my “other” family, great health, two beautiful places to live, and the opportunity to “become more worldly” and see incredible things. I hope everyone who reads this has a very happy Thanksgiving and know that I love and miss you all.

Now, if I could only find a piece of pumpkin pie my life would be complete….

Amstel Beer Delivery

Posted on November 16, 2012 by amsterdogblog

Amstel Delivery

Today, I was out walking Harriet and an Amstel delivery truck pulled up to the restaurant that is next door to our building. The street is very narrow as when it was built, cars did not exist! Apparently, it is difficult for bars and restaurants to find a place to store full and empty kegs of beer so, some beer companies, like Amstel, are now using tanker trucks to deliver beer. So Harry and I go to watch as this truck pulled up to the restaurant, the driver hopped out, connected a hose to the truck and pumped beer into a tank in the restaurant. Pretty cool!

Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet Updates

Posted on November 15, 2012 by amsterdogblog

On Sunday night we will put our shoes outside our front door (in the hallway of our canal house) and in the morning there will be a goody deposited in each of our shoes from Zwarte Piet – I think….it’s all very confusing especially as it is being explained to me by several people who all have a different story. To be honest, this whole Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet thing kinda creeps me out! “Why?” you ask? Well, Sinterklaas is a bit like like our Santa Claus except that he comes from Spain (not the North Pole) and rides a horse (where does he put the presents?) and has a helper by the name of Zwarte Piet (Black Pieter). This sounds OK until you see this helper guy, Zwarte Piet because this Zwarte Piet guy is all over the place and is really a white guy (or gal in drag) dressed in the “Blue Boy” outfit, in black face with really really red lips! I just about fell over the first time I saw this and yes, you see real people on TV and live in-person walking around like this!!! The first time you see this it is really really weird!

There is a blog called canuckgoingdutch.wordpress.com and in this blog there is a tongue in-cheek explanation of the Sinterklaas phenomenon from April Winchell, the author of a very funny blog called Regretsy (she makes fun of the website Etsy):

“Sinterklaas is the Bishop of Spain. Or he may be the Bishop of Turkey, and just summers in Spain, but we are not clear on the details. The main thing is, he dresses like Santa Claus dressed as the Pope.

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas has a helper named Zwarte Piet (Black Peter). When I say helper, I mean slave, but no one says that. But come on.

Zwarte Piet

Black Peter is portrayed by actors in black face. Even black actors wear black face. He has really exaggerated red lips and big eyes, and no one seems too worked up about it. Of course in recent years, some efforts have been made to make it seem less racist, mostly by pretending that Peter’s face is black because he’s a chimney-sweep. No one is buying it, but everyone is so stoned it’s hardly worth arguing about.

Sinterklaas arrives by boat into the Netherlands around the end of November. The have a big parade and everyone laughs and sings as the Bishop of Turkey/Spain is escorted from his yacht by his black slaves/helpers. After this happens, people say “he is in the country”.

In the week that follows, Sinterklaas visits all boys and girls and leaves a piece of chocolate in your shoe every day, provided you’ve been good. If you’ve been bad, he beats you with a stick and throws you in a sack, and forcibly takes you back to Spain. So, it’s really in your best interest to do your chores”.

I can’t help but think this holiday might be a detriment to Spain’s travel industry!

The parade is held on the canals and will probably pass by our flat. If so, I will hopefully be here to take photos. This year’s parade will have no less than 500 Zwarte Piets!

The other day there was a black mark on the wall in the hallway. Victor, my little 6 yo neighbor upstairs told us that he was pretty certain that the black mark was made by Zwarte Piet! Victor and Amadine (his 4 yo sister) have figured out that if they put shoes outside their door AND outside our door, both sets of shoes might have something in them….they are very clever children.

So, on Sunday we get our first official visit from Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet. I will report back on this and let everyone know if we have anymore black marks to clean up, what we find in our shoes or if I need a ride home from Spain.

***Important***Sinterklaas Update!!!

Sinterklaas came! My 7 year old neighbor, Victor, and I watched Sinterklaas arrive on Saturday via boat from Spain. It was very exciting with a huge crowd all lined up along the canals of Amsterdam watching and cheering and singing all live on TV! Victor could hardly contain himself and was explaining to me (all in Dutch unfortunately) everything that was happening. He was so cute as he could not stand still when everyone was singing! M and I left our shoes out (along with a few extras) before going to bed. We left the next morning for South Africa and later received a telephone call from two very excited children telling us that Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet had come to our flat! He Zwarte Piet ate the apples we left them and also the carrots left for Sinterklaas’s horse!! Amazing!!! He also left presents in our shoes, the bowl we left out for Harriet and the shoes of all 4 of our neighbors. Victor and Amadine both got watches, Martijn got a nice fountain pen, Marieke got a nice notebook, M got some really nice hand lotion, Harriet got some tennis balls and I got a Dutch phrase book. It’s amazing how Sinterklaas knew exactly what we all needed! In addition, he left a letter saying that he knew we were out of town and would not return until next week. How very thoughtful don’t you think?

A Trip to Ikea

Posted on November 14, 2012 by amsterdogblog

Today we stopped by the local Ikea store. If you didn’t know better, you would think you were in Ikea Seattle…well, except for a couple of small differences such as:

The Women’s room is “Dames” and each stall is its own little room.
Ikea is actually prounounced “Ik” as in icky, “kay” as in okay, ya or Ik-kay-ya.
They serve milkshakes in their snackbar along with meatballs in a cup and ice cream cones in waffle cones for 0,50 euro. You can go back for as many servings of ice cream that you want!!!
They have an all you can drink policy for fountain drinks in their restaurants (including the lingonberry).
A pretty nice salad bar.
They sell beer, cider and wine in their restaurants and in the food department.

Yep, Ikea has been holding out on us Americans!

Dutch Bikes

Posted on November 13, 2012 by amsterdogblog

There are more bikes in Amsterdam than people. Really. Not joking. They are everywhere. They are locked to anything that doesn’t move…trees, railings, posts, each other, bike racks, over bridges, along every inch of sidewalk…everywhere! Most bikes are black, heavy, have fenders and have one or two very heavy duty racks. They look like the bike Miss Gulch rode in the Wizard of Oz. They are used to carry groceries, cases of beer, and multiple children. Our neighbor weighs maybe 100 pounds, and carries a 6 year old and a 4 year old all on a bike that weighs probably 25 pounds. There are bikes with giant boxes that are used for deliveries. Today I saw a woman using one of these delivery bikes to peddle her 4 children around!

The Dutch use their bikes all year long and use bikes to go everywhere. They don’t wear helmets and are dressed for work when they ride. Women in high heels peddling to work is a common sight. The other night I saw two women riding side-by-side in the rain, talking away while one of them held an umbrella over both their heads. Around 5 pm there is a rush hour of bikes so if you are out and about you need to be extra extra careful about crossing the street because there are a LOT of bikes! Bike theft is a way of life. I read that most Amsterdam bikes are stolen at least 8 times. These bikes are made to last 20+ years and are the tanks of the bike world. All bikes have at least 2 locks. One lock is attached to the frame and locks the back wheel to the frame with a heavy duty “U” shaped lock. The second lock is the biggest, baddest piece of chain attached to and even bigger and badder steel lock all wrapped inside a protective cover. Needless to say, they weigh a ton. The best locks cost almost as much as the bike! Next to the train station there is a humongous bike parking garage where you pay to park your bike in a covered, secure facility. People pay 1 or 2 euros to park there daily….not a bad price considering a decent bike here costs 300 to 800 euros. As most the bikes are black and they all look alike, it’s a wonder to me how people can tell their bike from someone else’s. I ran across this bike the other day and just had to take a photo.

All bikes have a bell. You need this bell to tell the stupid tourists to move out of your way! Speaking of which, all tourist rental bikes are painted a color that is not black. This is how you tell the tourists from the locals when you are driving a car or walking. Be very afraid of the orange and red bikes!!

M has a friend who sells bikes and has a supply of last year’s models. I get to choose which one I want. I’ll post a photo of my new bike with the biggest baddest lock and even bigger and badder chain money can buy along with my super cool bell and the hot pink streamers I’m going to install on the handlegrips so I can find my bike in the sea of black!